Insteon lighting

What might be the easiest IP controlled home theater lighting to run with Roomie Remote

I wanted to use Insteon but the controllers linked here -

roomieremote.com/ip-compatibility/

appear to be "old" (one is no longer available at all), the other is quite a bit more than this insteon hub/controller -

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AEDTWHK/?tag=cyphersoft-20" title="Insteon Hub" target="_blank">Insteon Hub</a>

or this

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XA8XNQ/?tag=cyphersoft-20" title="Insteon 2413" target="_blank">Insteon 2413</a>

I intend to setup two of Insteon dimmer switches like this -

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZTVZ0W/?tag=cyphersoft-20" title="Insteon Dimmer Switch" target="_blank">Insteon Dimmer Switch</a>

Any suggestions?

The best solution for Insteon by far is the ISY994i:

ISY994i

Insteon pretty much dropped the ball on the controller front with their most recent generation which is why we still list the older 24XX products.

However, if you really want to use the Insteon Hub, it is basically compatible. Instructions for that are in this thread:

feature-requests-archives/insteon-gateway-hub-t8922.html

Thank you.

Thanks that doesn't sound like a terribly "glowing" lighting endorsement?

Can I go back to my first question (with a missing ?)

<blockquote>What might be the easiest IP controlled home theater lighting to run with Roomie Remote</blockquote>???

To add a bit more spec -

I'd like at least two dimmer switches with option to scale up a bit from there.

I'm sure I probably don't need to add for a reasonable DIYer cost.

I'm thinking of getting away from my existing X10 Lighting system, as while it works, it's a bit flaky (random false ON signals), and I am quickly preferring IP control vs. IR with Roomie and otherwise.

The Insteon system works excellently, as long as you have a good controller of which the ISY994i is one.

If "easiest" is the primary measure, Philips Hue would probably top that list.

If "best" or "highest quality" is the primary measure, Lutron Radio RA 2 is a clear winner, but that will cost a good order of magnitude or two above the others.

Thank you.

Does Roomie co-exist nicely with Indigo Software on a Mac for home automation? I'm looking at using Indigo to control Insteon lights and switches. Since Indigo runs on a Mac, it makes sense to use the same Mac that is already running Roomie Agent and HTPC software (Plex). Indigo looks a lot more user-friendly and configurable/extensible than an ISY994i. That thing stills uses Java (full Java, not Javascript) as the primary UI and the web interface to ISY994i is simply ancient/poor.

Yes, Roomie works well with Indigo. Indigo also works best with the 24XX products like the 2413U rather than the newer Insteon Hub.

One hopes that Insteon will introduce a better controller one day given how questionable the current Insteon Hub is, but given the existence of the ISY and Indigo as excellent and up to date choices, it doesn't really matter. Insteon switches and devices themselves, as long as you stick to the newer dual-band variety, are quite competitive with the more expensive solutions.

You are certainly correct that Indigo's user interface is light years ahead of the ISY. If you can handle keeping an OS X system running like on a Mac Mini which would be useful for Roomie Agent and XBMC/Plex anyway, it is an excellent choice.

Thank you.

Thanks!

I'm using the 2413U Insteon PLC modem and only newer dual-band Insteon devices and it has been working great.

I "bit the bullet" and bought a new high-end Mac mini with i7 processor cores, 1TB of disk and 16GB of ram. So far it runs Indigo, Plex, and Roomie Agent along with being an excellent video transcoder using HandBrake and still lots of capacity left for Xcode iOS app developemnt (The financial "justification" for getting the Mac Mini in the first place).